


Escape the Night: The Dark Dimension

by Dede42



Series: Escape the Night Season 2 [12]
Category: Escape the Night (Web Series)
Genre: Demons, Gems, Idols, Murder Mystery, Victorian, dimension, mansion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-12
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:07:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 13,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22688230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dede42/pseuds/Dede42
Summary: The Devourer is on the loose and the YouTubers need to outwit him to get the final gem that is in a different dimension. But what price will they have to pay to get the final gem?
Series: Escape the Night Season 2 [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1481360
Comments: 48
Kudos: 6





	1. PROLOGUE: SUMMONING RITUAL

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Sorry for the late update, but I finally saw Jumanji: The Next Level, and then a whole bunch of stuff came up, which is to be expected for real life. Onward!

**PROLOGUE: SUMMONING RITUAL**

*****

It was midnight and the Sorceress was in the middle of a ritual that she knew would have _quite_ the impact on the surviving YouTubers, and that also meant that she would be one step closer in finally finishing what she started a century ago.

_‘It is_ time _to change things up for the Light-bearer and her_ friends _,’_ she thought and prepared herself for what she was going to do in order to change the game on the YouTubers.

Yes, she was looking _forward_ to what was about to occur, and how it was going to affect the game that the YouTubers had been having to play this _whole_ time.

“What sleeps will wake,” the Sorceress chanted while holding a grey horn and behind her were two of her followers dressed in black robes.

Chained to a stone table was a young woman, who was bare-footed and wearing only a white dress, forcefully taken from the local village, just like all of her other victims over the century, and the Sorceress was going to use her to summon her most powerful lieutenant to deal with Joey, Dawn, and their remaining friends.

“What lies in darkness will overcome the light,” she continued. “Open the doorway to your world that we may be joined in an _unholy_ alliance.”

Off to the side was a black archway and soon it was glowing with a swirling purple color, which meant that it was a doorway to somewhere filled with dark magic.

Sighing, the Sorceress bent down and grabbed the woman’s mouth with one hand, forcing it open, and ignoring the pleads that the young woman was making.

“No, please don’t-” the young woman pleaded, trying to turn away, but couldn’t because of the Sorceress’ grip, and she choked as a black liquid poured out of the horn and over her face while getting into her mouth at the same time. She coughed as it burned going down her throat, and she immediately began feeling sick to her stomach.

The Sorceress smirked and released her grip on the young woman’s face as she straightened up. “It’s already done.” She then handed the horn to one of her followers, who gave her a nasty-looking knife in return.

“No,” the young woman pleaded once she could speak again, and she struggled against the chains, too. “No! No! No! Please! No, no, I want to live!”

The Sorceress raised the knife above her head, an evil glint in her eyes. “So do they!” she shouted and plunged the knife into the young woman’s chest, killing her instantly.

Soon, dark red blood began spilling off the stone table and onto the ground. She removed the knife and gave it to her follower as a nearby gem dissolved into dark purple smoke that flew past her with an eerie scream.

The Sorceress watched as it was absorbed into the swirling purple vortex, and a _very_ strange-looking creature emerged: it was tall with white skin, curved horns on its’ head, two more horns growing from its’ shoulders, black pants covered most of its waist and legs, it had no eyes, but its’ skin was split over the face, revealing pink, it had a mouth filled with jagged teeth, and more of the skin was split on its’ chest and belly.

Once it was freed, it let out a loud growl, creaked its’ necks a few times, and then made it way over to the Sorceress, who gently stroked its’ head with a happy and loving sigh. “Shush now,” she said to the creature as it growled again, but the growl was more soft and purr-like. “There is _much_ to do.”

Still growling softly, it turned away from her to face the stone table with the dead young woman, where it bent down, and it began feeding on the body while the Sorceress watched with evil and sick pleasure.

_‘Joey, the Light-bearer, and their friends have_ no _idea what is in store for them,’_ she thought, looking forward the mayhem and deaths to come next, and she laughed evilly as the creature finished feeding and headed for the mansion.


	2. CHAPTER ONE: A NEW THREAT

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> It's time for the first chapter and to see how the survivors are going to handle the Devourer when they come face-to-face with it. Onward!

**CHAPTER ONE: A NEW THREAT**

*****

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, the group went through a doorway and found themselves in the red hallway from when they had tried to repair the Automaton Bride, which had cost Gabbie her heart, and they walked down it, heading for the elevator at the other end.

“Are they coming?” Joey asked as they slowed down to catch their breathes.

“No,” said Alex, glancing behind them. “I don’t see anyone.”

“That was insane,” Joey said, staring at the gem in his hands. “We have a gem, at least.” And that was the only good thing to come out of this, that and Andrea was alive, too.

“And this letter,” Dawn added, clutching the letter like a lifeline, and for all she knew, it _could_ be a lifeline that they would be able to use to find the next gem.

Andrea was confused since she’d fully expected to be torn apart by the werewolves, and the fact that Alison had just given up her own life to save hers was shocking and confusing. “What just happened?”

“You’re alive, _that’s_ what happen,” Ernie stated.

“But did we cheat the system?” Andrea wondered, recalling how their last attempt to do so had cost the lives of Sampson and Liza. “Does that mean we went around the rules?”

Before any of her friends could answer that question, the door to the elevator suddenly slid open to reveal a hideous pink/white creature, which stepped out of the elevator and roared at them.

“What _is_ that?!?"

"I don't know!"

"What the hell?"

"Go! Run! _Run_ _!_ ”

Screaming, the group turned and ran back the way they came with the creature chasing after them.

*****

Somehow, by some miracle, the group managed to get back up the stairs and they were once again outside the mansion.

Alex checked to see if the creature was following, but there was no sign of it. “I don’t think we’re being followed.”

“What _was_ that thing?” Tyler wondered.

“It looked like something you would expect to find in a Guillermo Del Toro movie,” Dawn said, shaken and she leaned against the nearby railing of the balcony. “You know, _Pan’s Labyrinth?_ ”

“Yeah, that thing does seem like one of those sort of creatures,” Ernie agreed.

“What do we do?” Joey wondered.

“I don’t know,” Tyler moaned. “We don’t have Alison anymore. But there is that letter that she gave to you,” he added, nodding to the letter that the brunette was still clutching in her hand.

Realizing that he was right, Dawn opened the letter and read it, her eyebrows shooting into her hairline. “Whoa, listen to this,” she said and read it to her friends as they gathered around her.

_My dear friends,_

_If you are reading this letter, and my worst fear has been confirmed. I haven’t left the mansion alive, but it also means that I was able to help some of you to escape from the Sorceress and stop her evil plan. I had hoped to leave this cursed place and explore the outside world, but deep down, I knew that it would probably be unlikely, and so I write this letter while you all are asleep in the lounge._

_I have never had friends before other then Sampson, at least, not real friends that weren’t followers of the Sorceress, and your friendship has proven that I was right to help you regain your freedom from the Sorceress. There is much I wish I could’ve told you all before this nightmare began, but I am writing it here so you can understand fully while I turned against my own father to help you._

_My parents and the other vampires in our nest hadn’t always lived in the mansion, instead they once lived in a village in a distant land, and none of them ever fed on humans except for special occasions. Or if the humans were at the point where they couldn’t live any longer due to either old age, illness, or a fatal injury._

_For centuries, this was how my ancestors lived, having forsaken the commands of the Cursed God that first created the vampires, and they lived in peace with the humans that also lived in the village. That was until the vampire hunters arrived._

_Most of the nest was wiped out and I was just a baby at the time when my parents took the survivors and they fled to find a new home, one where I and other surviving children could be raised safely. That was how they ended up at the mansion, where my father agreed to serve the Sorceress in exchange for one of the gems, and being able to call the mansion home. A part of the agreement to serve the Sorceress was to start feeding on humans, and I could_ never _do it._

_I only ever tasted human blood once and I rebelled against ever drinking it again, for it made me want more, and that scared me. I was a disappointment to my parents and the rest of the nest, but it was my choice to make, just like it was my choice to look after Joey when the Sorceress gave you to my father and the vampires after she forced you to write those invitations to bring your friends to this cursed place. I kept an eye on you while you were hooked to the machine and the nest used it to take your blood._

_Two weeks before your friends were to arrive, I snuck into the ballroom one night when my parents and the others had gone, and I could tell that you didn’t have much life left in you, which meant I had to do_ something _to ensure that you would live to see your friends again. I was honest when I said that I never fed on you during that month, but I did do something that, had you known you probably would’ve been_ very _angry with me, was the only way I could keep you alive._

_Twice during those two weeks, I compelled you to sleep so that I could inject some of my own blood into your system in order to heal you enough so that you could survive this night. Rest assure that it wasn’t enough to turn you into a vampire, Joey, and I expect that thought would run through your head after reading this. No, the blood was enough to help you stay alive. Even the tea that I gave you all had a little bit of my blood mixed in, along with a mild sedative, for I knew that you would need to rest up in order to find the remaining gems._

_I did all of this to help you all win against the Sorceress. I admit that when you first arrived, I just wanted to get you all out of there before it was too late, and I was surprised when you, Dawn, refused to leave without Joey. But it was in that moment that I realized that you were a Light-bearer, and while you don’t know for sure what that means, I do. A Light-bearer is one who can overcome the darkness and evil of the world, and the Light-bearers have been helping the Society Against Evil fight against the forces of the Cursed God for an unknown period of time._

_I don’t know where the Light-bearers come from, but I know that just being in the presence of such a person can rid one of darkness, and having you as a friend has taken much darkness out of myself. Goodbye, my friends and good luck._

_Alison._

The group stared at the letter, dumbfounded by all that it had revealed, especially why Alison had helped them in the first place.

“I _so_ misjudged her,” Joey said, shocked and saddened that he hadn’t trusted the vampire girl when he first met her, but she’d understood why he had acted the way he did, and she hadn’t hated him for it either.

“Yeah, Alison gave up _a lot_ to help us out,” Dawn agreed, folding the letter and putting it inside her coat. “But, what are we suppose to do to find the next gem?”

Alex looked around and noticed something that clearly hadn’t been there before. “Uh…what is _this?_ ” he asked, pointing to a strange grey, squid-like monster statue that was in a crouching position on one of the balcony supports.

Exchanging looks, the group went over to the statue and saw that there was an inscription on the base, which Andrea read. “‘Speak to us, forgotten one, and steal the light from our eyes that we might see’. Steal the light?”

Alex examined the statue, noting that it had pale stones for eyes. _‘Do we have to remove the stones?’_ he wondered, trying to remove them, but they were stuck. “Wait.”

“What?” Joey asked, but before he could get an answer, there was a loud banging on the glass doors behind them, making them all jump and scream.

The group turned and they saw that the creature was now banging and clawing on the glass doors that stood between them and it.

“Ok, that’s an _ugly_ creature,” Ernie stated. “And it _does_ look like one of Guillermo Del Toro’s creations.”

“Omigosh,” Joey gasped. “He's inside. We should maybe just stay out here.”

“Given that it’s probably one of the Sorceress’ lieutenants, that’s probably a good idea,” Dawn agreed, and protested when Joey moved closer to the glass doors. “Joey! Get away from there!”

“Wait…I just wanna take a closer look at him,” Joey said, moving closer to the door “…maybe just to see…” Stopping short of the door, he got a good look at the creature and backed up a bit. “Omigod!” And when the creature lunged at the door, trying to get to him, he screamed and jumped away, returning to his friends. _‘Nope! There is_ no way _that I’m going anywhere_ near _that thing! Nope, nope,_ nope _!’_

Tyler looked between the statue and the creature that was growling at them through the closed door, trying to make sense of the inscription. “What if we talk to it?” he suggested, looking at the creature. “Speak to _us?_ ” But all the creature did was growl and banged on the glass. “Ok _never mind_.” He took another look at the statue and noticed that there was a drawing of some kind on the side near the base. “What is this?”

Andrea also took a look at the drawing. “They’re raising their hands.” And sure enough, in the drawing, there were six people, positioned in a trapezoid-shaped formation, and they all had their hands raised while they were looking forward. “Maybe we need to do that.”

Figuring that it was their best option, they positioned themselves so that they were standing in the same shape, and had their hands raised while they faced the statue, just like in the drawing.

“Think this is it?" Alex asked. "Nothing's happening!"

"Maybe we do this while we say this all together,” Ernie suggested.

Agreeing, they all spoke the words from the inscription together. “Speak to us, forgotten one, and steal the light from our eyes that we might see.”

For a moment, nothing happened, and then the statue itself started to glow an eerie blue/green color. The group stared in confusion and then they yelped, startled when the plaque fell off the base of the statue.

“Freaking jump-scares,” Dawn grumbled as they moved closer to see what was in the opening.

Tyler reached inside and took out a dark green book with yellow eyes on the cover that grossed them out, and he opened the book, finding information that he immediately read. “‘The Sorceress has used the final gem to summon a Devourer to aid in her end game. To retrieve the gem, you must venture into the Dark Dimension, where it is being kept. Only the twin idols of the Cursed God allow passage. To recover the first one, you must make a phone call to hell and share secret words with its Gatekeeper’.”

“That’s the Devourer,” Joey said, pointing to the creature that was still at the door. “We need to go to the Dark Dimension?”

“And call hell!” Tyler yelped.

Dawn threw her hands up in frustration. “Oh _great!_ ” she said sarcastically. “Let’s see how the devil’s doing!”

Alex noted that there was a map on the bottom of the map. “This is where we are,” he said, pointing to a spot on the map. “We have to go down…”

Tyler found the destination on the map. “We have to go that way. Ok.”

“Ok, let’s go,” Ernie agreed and they all headed for the stairs. Unfortunately, the Devourer was following by going from window to window to keep them in view.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh goody, they're going to get to call hell. Seriously, where are the Winchesters when you need them?!
> 
> I will see you all next week. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	3. CHAPTER TWO: CALLING HELL TAKE ONE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> It's time to make a phone call to hell. Who will do it? Onward!

**CHAPTER TWO: CALLING HELL TAKE ONE**

*****

Realizing that the Devourer was following, the group ran for the stairs, not wanting it to find a way out and grab them before they could get the final gem.

“Come on, you guys!” Tyler gasped as they reached the top of the stairs.

“We need two more gems," Alex reminded them, "and then we can get the crown to stop the queen!” Just then, the Devourer crashed against the nearest window, scaring them.

“Aah!” Joey cried. “He’s following us!” And they fled down the stairs and at the base, they found a red telephone booth waiting for them.

Tyler stepped up to the telephone booth and found a telephone inside it. “This must be where we call hell,” he guessed. “Should I do it?”

“Might as well,” said Ernie and the others agreed.

Swallowing, Tyler stepped inside the telephone booth and as he was about pick up the receiver, he saw that there was a note on the telephone. “‘Please have your telephone billet number ready to operate the telephone’.”

“Is it in the book?” Andrea wondered.

Tyler checked the book that he was still holding and shook his head. “No.”

Alex looked around and found a chest nearby. “There’s a chest over here, too.”

Tyler picked up the receiver and held it to his ear, hearing a heavily accented female voice. “Um…”

_`“_ _Telephone billet number, please_ _,”`_ the female voice requested with a French accent, repeating herself. _`“Telephone billet number, please.”`_

“We don’t have it!” Joey hissed. “We don’t have it yet!” And Tyler quickly hung up the receiver.

“Try to talk back,” Alex suggested.

Tyler considered this, but then he noticed a small cabinet next to the telephone. “Wait, you guys,” he said, opening it to reveal a folded piece of paper, a bottle of sulfur pills, and a note. “Oh.”

Ernie took the note and read it while Alex grabbed the bottle of sulfur. “‘The gatekeeper of hell hides his secret words among the living. The ritual to reveal their location must be performed in the lounge by four participants who must first drink the blood of a demon’.”

“Fourof us have to go in with _him_ _?_ ” Joey asked, alarmed as he pointed to the window where the Devourer was glaring down at them.

“And we have to drink demon’s blood?” Dawn asked, feeling ill. “That didn’t end well for Sam Winchester so… _no way!_ ”

Alex wasn’t excited either to drink the blood of a demon, but that didn’t explain why they had bottle full of sulfur pills. “What is this sulfur for?” he wondered, playing with the lid.

Tyler took the note from Ernie and he read the rest. “‘A drop of sulfur in the correct liquor bottle will reveal the one containing demon's blood’. So we have to put _those_ in liquor bottles,” he explained, gesturing to the bottle, “to see which ones are the ones with demon blood.”

“This is going to be _loads_ of fun,” Dawn muttered. “Seriously, can’t we just use this phone to call the Winchesters? Or even the Ghostbusters?”

“If only,” Joey sighed, not looking forward to drinking demon blood either.

Andrea grabbed the paper and unfolded, finding that it was a diagram with shapes and instructions. “Yep,” she said as her friends gathered around to take a look. “We’re doing a séance.”

Both Dawn and Joey groaned, remembering the last time they had to do a séance that’d lead to Justine being buried alive in a coffin. “Not _another_ séance.”

“What does it say?” Tyler asked.

Although not looking forward to doing _another_ séance after the events of last year, Joey took the diagram and read the instructions. “‘Place a copper basin at the center and six candles around, forming a triangle’.” He sighed, not looking forward to this, but they had to do it to find the next gem. “Ok,” he said, taking charge. “So, guys, we need to go in there, and we need to find the basin, we need to find glasses…”

“Well, _somebody_ needs to distract him so we can do all that,” Alex pointed out.

“Not it!” Joey, Dawn, Tyler, and Andrea all said at the same time, and this got protests from Alex and Ernie.

“Seriously, _we’re_ the decoys?” Alex asked annoyed.

“You guys cheated and didn’t warn us that you were going to do ‘Not it’,” Ernie complained.

Dawn took the bottle of sulfur from Alex while Tyler assured them both that they could do it, for they were the fastest among them. “Just keep him away from the lounge, and if he _does_ head our way, yell as loud as you both can,” she advised. “That’ll give us a chance to hide or take over if you both get tired.”

Alex and Ernie weren’t thrilled to be the decoys, but they went back up the stairs, and the moment that the Devourer saw them, it started banging on the windows. Exchanging a look, they headed for the doors to the foyer, and sure enough, the Devourer started following them, trying to keep them in sight. “Guys, he’s following us.”

“He is?” Joey asked as he, Dawn, Tyler, and Andrea crept up the stairs.

“Yup,” said Ernie. “He’s following. So get ready.” And he exchanged a look with Alex before they both opened the door and stepped inside the mansion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know which is worst, being chased by the Devourer or having to drink demons blood in order to do a séance.
> 
> I will see you all next week. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	4. CHAPTER THREE: SCARY HIDE-AND-SEEK PART ONE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> It's time for Alex and Ernie to keep the monster busy. Onward!

**CHAPTER THREE: SCARY HIDE-AND-SEEK PART ONE**

*****

Alex and Ernie stepped inside the mansion and they began shouting to get the attention of the Devourer. “Hey! Come on! Let’s go!”

Hearing them, the Devourer exited the lounge and charged right at them! The two boys then bolted back out the door, and they were surprised when the Devourer skidded to a halt, just short of the doorway.

“Come on!” Ernie shouted.

“We’re right here!” Alex shouted.

The Devourer reached for them, but when it touched the doorway, there was a flash of purple light that forced it back, and it roared furiously and with clear disappointment.

“There must be some kind of magical barrier keeping the Devourer inside,” Ernie guessed, figuring that’s why it hadn’t chased them outside earlier. “It can’t leave the mansion.”

“You guys!” Alex called out to their friends. “He's stuck! He can't come out!”

Ernie sighed. “You know, Alex,” he said, realizing something. “We can’t stay out here where it’s safe without risking the others when they go inside to set up for the séance.”

“I know,” Alex agreed, hating what they were about to do, but it had to be done.

Exchanging a look, they waited until the Devourer moved away, and then they charged inside, running across the foyer and up the stairs. Moments later, the Devourer gave chase, clearly determine to catch them both. “Come and get us!”

*****

Once they were certain that the Devourer was upstairs and busy with chasing Alex and Ernie around, the others sneaked into the lounge to start getting everything together in order to do the séance.

“Grab candles,” said Andrea and they hurried to gather up all of the candles from different parts of the room, including two that were on the bar. They set them on the floor outside the doorway, and they all cringed when they heard the Devourer growled from somewhere above them.

“Get the basin,” Tyler hissed and Joey ran to get it while he, Andrea, and Dawn set up the candles like shown on the diagram.

“Ok,” Joey said, returning with the basin and set it in what was to be the middle of the triangle that was being made by the candles. “We have to place this in the center.”

“Follow the lines on the floor,” Andrea advised, gesturing to the lines on the floor. “That’ll make it easy.”

Dawn nodded and set one of the candles at what was to be the bottom point of the triangle. “Ok, so this is the bottom of the triangle.”

Just then, the Devourer suddenly appeared in the doorway, growling, and they screamed. They dropped the remaining candles, and they fled to find hiding places in the room. Joey grabbed Dawn by the arm and they both hid behind a curtain, hoping and praying that the Devourer would either not find them, or just give up and leave.

Unfortunately, the Devourer kept moving into the room, and he was getting closer to where Dawn and Joey were hiding, almost as if he could sense their presence somehow. They were certain that they were going to be found and killed when-

“Hey!”

The Devourer turned and saw Alex and Ernie standing in the doorway, and it was looking as if they were daring it to come after them. The Devourer started toward them, and they slowly started backing away, but there was no fear in their faces.

“Alex, Ernie,” Joey whispered as he and Dawn peered around the curtain, watching fearfully as their friends kept backing away, luring the Devourer out of the room.

Suddenly the two boys turned on their heels and ran for the stairs, the Devourer giving chase, and they all disappeared upstairs once again.

Joey, Dawn, Andrea, and Tyler came out of their hiding places, hoping that Alex and Ernie wouldn’t get themselves killed by distracting the Devourer, and they went back to work on setting up everything for the séance.

“Ok,” Joey said, picking up the diagram. “Ok, we only need six candles.” And they had more then six candles.

“We’re good,” Tyler said, setting aside some of the candles so that six were positioned to form the triangle. “We’re good.”

Joey nodded and read what they needed to do next. “‘Place group of glasses as shown’.”

“What glasses?” Dawn wondered.

Andrea spotted some shot glasses on a nearby table and she grabbed them. “Here.”

Joey checked the diagram and pointed at the bottom of the triangle. “There needs to be three at the bottom here.” And Andrea quickly set up three of the glasses in the proper spot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I DEFINITELY wouldn't want to be chased around by that thing either. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	5. CHAPTER FOUR: SCARY HIDE-AND-SEEK PART TWO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Now, I'm not currently posting on fanfiction.net due to needing a break from that site and needing to finish up the third season of MLP, which might not happen until I get all of the fourth ETN season written. Which is why I'm going to be posting here once a week instead.
> 
> Time to see how things are going with keeping the Devourer distracted and setting everything up for the séance.  
> Onward!

**CHAPTER FOUR: SCARY HIDE-AND-SEEK PART TWO**

*****

Meanwhile, Alex and Ernie were still leading the Devourer on a merry chase around the second floor by ducking in and out of rooms, feeling like they were doing a chase scene from _Scooby-doo._ It wasn’t long before they were both downstairs and in the doorway that lead to the library. They waited there until the Devourer appeared at the top of the stairs.

“Having fun?” Alex asked, feeling a bit cocky while knocking on the doorframe to keep the attention of the Devourer, and as it started down the stairs toward them, taking the bait, they knew it was time to warn their friends and run again. “Here he comes! Down the stairs!”

They could hear movement in the lounge, which meant that their friends were finding hiding places, and they bolted into the library with the Devourer moving faster then expected, hot on their heels.

*****

In the library, Alex and Ernie ran for the far end of the library to the other exit, only to find that it was locked, and the only way out was the way they came in. Realizing their mistake, they both turned to go back when the Devourer was suddenly towering over them, and they ended up backing against the window as it pounced.

“Aah!” they both screamed as the Devourer grabbed them by their arms and a purple energy started flowing from it and into them, causing intense pain. “We got taken!” And then they both disappeared in a flash of purple light.

*****

In the lounge, both Joey and Dawn felt their stomaches drop when the screams of Alex and Ernie both were suddenly cut off. They had duck behind one of the tables, while Andrea was hiding behind one of the chairs, and Tyler had duck behind a curtain.

“Guys,” Joey said as he and Dawn both stood up. “They were taken.” And they exchanged fearful expressions. Were they ever going to see Alex and Ernie again?

*****

When Ernie regained consciousness, he found himself laying flat on his back in a dark place that was dimly lit. Groaning he sat up and found Alex was sprawled on the ground next to him, unconscious.

“Alex,” he said, shaking his friend’s shoulder until he woke up. “Alex, get up.”

Alex blinked and groaned as he sat up and looked around, confused. “Are we dead?”

“I’m not sure,” Ernie admitted and glanced over at the light source, his jaw dropping when he saw that he could see the library through the two holes that the light was coming through. “Oh God, Alex, I – I think we’re in the head of the Devourer. Look!”

Alex also looked and he realized that Ernie was right. “Oh boy, what does this mean?”

“I don’t know,” Ernie admitted, “but it looks like we’re going to see everything that the Devourer sees until we can get out of here.”

“Hopefully we _can_ get out of here,” said Alex and Ernie nodded. They were trapped and they couldn’t help their friends.

*****

“They were?” Andrea asked, looking at Joey and Dawn questioningly. “Are you sure?”

Before they could answer, the Devourer reentered the room, and Tyler immediately duck back behind the curtain once again. Not having a chance to hide this time, Joey, Dawn, and Andrea ran out of the room, barely avoiding being caught by the Devourer, which chased after them, and they found safety outside.

Unable to reach them, the Devourer turned back to return to the lounge, clearly intending to find Tyler, who was still hidden in there.

“Tyler!” Andrea called out. “He’s coming!” She turned to Joey and Dawn. “What are we gonna do?”

Joey had an idea, but he was sure that Andrea wasn’t going to like it. “I have an idea for now,” he admitted. “ _You_ be the distraction.”

Andrea stared at him like he’d gone mad. “Me? Why not Dawn?” she demanded, pointing at the brunette, who was looking between them uncertainly. “You can run fast, Donny, I’ve see you run fast before.”

“Um…” Dawn said uncertainly.

“You don’t have to go inside to distract him,” Joey added, hoping to convince her, especially since Tyler wasn’t going to last a minute against the Devourer, and there was _no way_ that he was going to put Dawn in danger. “Keep him distracted by the window at the library. Ok?”

Andrea sighed and nodded, hurrying to the windows that lined the lounge while Joey and Dawn prepared to go back inside. Reaching a window, she began tapping on it to get the attention of the Devourer, and it started toward her. She thought she was successful – and then she saw that Tyler, whose face was white with fear, was hiding behind the curtain of that _very_ window!

“Crap!” Andrea gasped, realizing that she’d just put her friend in danger.

*****

Inside the head of the Devourer, Alex and Ernie watched in terror as they saw the hands of the creature rip aside the curtain to reveal Tyler, who was flattening himself against the window in terror.

“No!”

“Don’t hurt him!”

*****

“You guys!” Tyler screamed in terror as the curtain was ripped aside and he found the Devourer towering over him, and he was certain that it was going to do to him whatever had been done to Alex and Ernie.

Just as the Devourer was about to strike, both Joey and Dawn leapt inside the foyer and began shouting and waving their arms to get the attention of the creature.

“Look at us! Look at us!”

“Over here! Over here!”

When the Devourer turned to face them, Tyler duck out of the curtain, ran past the creature, snatching up the bottle of sulfur, and ran toward his two friends as they kept shouting and waving. “Joey! Dawn!”

Joey and Dawn grabbed him and they duck back outside as the Devourer charged forward, only to be stopped by the magical field that was preventing it from going outside.

*****

Still inside the head of the Devourer, both Alex and Ernie sighed with relief when they saw that Tyler was safe, and they was glad that Joey and Dawn had managed to save him from the Devourer.

“That was _way_ too close,” said Ernie.

Alex nodded. “Yeah, but how are they going to perform the séance while they’re outside?”

Ernie shrugged. “No idea.”

How _were_ their friends going to do the séance and would they be stuck in the head of the Devourer forever?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no! Alex and Ernie are stuck in the head of the Devourer and can't help their friends! Oh the humanity!
> 
> I will see you all next week to see what happens next. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	6. CHAPTER FIVE: DEMON BLOOD AND SÉANCE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is proof of how stressed out I've been because of the whole virus business. I NEARLY forgot to post the next chapter. So, here it is. Onward!

**CHAPTER FIVE: DEMON BLOOD AND SÉANCE**

*****

The moment that she saw Tyler was safely outside with Joey and Dawn, Andrea entered the lounge long enough to catch the attention of the Devourer, when it started toward her, she duck back outside, and lured it away by tapping and waving at it through the windows.

“What is Andrea doing?” Tyler asked as they crept back inside once the Devourer was gone.

“She’s distracting him,” Joey informed him. “She’s bringing him to the library.” They went back into the lounge and saw that there was a collection of bottles on the bar that hadn’t been there before.

Tyler stared at the bottles and got an idea. “We need to use the sulfur.”

“Use the sulfur for what?” Dawn asked.

“We can use the sulfur to figure out which of these bottles has the demon’s blood in it,” Tyler explained, and he dropped one of the sulfur pills into a bottle, but nothing happen. “Not this one.”

Joey and Dawn both took some of the sulfur pills and began dropping them into the remaining bottles, wondering how it was going to reveal the demon’s blood that they would have to drink before doing the séance, which they weren’t looking forward to.

*****

Meanwhile, Andrea was busy keeping the Devourer distracted, and she was dong a good job of it. She was mimicking it, and a lot of other things to keep it focused on her. She even asked it a question.

“Do you have a gem?” she asked. “Do you know what I’m talking about?” And she wasn’t surprised that it didn’t answer her, other then growling and trying to get at her through the glass. _‘Oh well, worth a shot.’_

*****

Still trapped in the head of the Devourer, Alex and Ernie were giggling at Andrea’s antics to keep the creature away from their friends, and having nothing better to do while they were stuck there, they chose to enjoy what they were seeing.

*****

Joey, Dawn, and Tyler were down to the final three bottles, and they were starting to wonder if they had to search elsewhere for the demon’s blood. However, when Tyler dropped one of the remaining sulfur pills into a bottle, and they jumped when it started bubbling and fizzing over, much like a Coke and Mentos experiment.

Tyler quickly plugged the opening with his thumb and made a face, positive that he was gonna need to clean his hands after the ritual was over. “Ew!”

“At least we found the demon’s blood,” Dawn remarked.

A sudden noise made them all duck under the bar, but when nothing appeared, they quickly went to the triangle to get back to work.

“How much of this do we need to drink?” Joey wondered and when both of his friends shrugged, he checked the book. “Ok, only that we have to drink the blood of a demon, but not how much. Let’s just split it.” He took the bottle, taking a swing from it and handed it to Dawn while he made a face and coughed a bit. “Yuck!”

Making a face, Dawn drank some of the demon’s blood and started coughing while Tyler took the bottle from her to take his turn. “Oh God, that’s _disgusting!_ ”

Tyler took a swing of the demon’s blood and coughed as it burned its’ way down his through. “Ugh! I rather eat the Gingerbread Woman’s meat pie again,” he moaned, setting the bottle down, positive that they would have enough for Andrea to drink from next.

*****

“Can’t get out here!” Andrea taunted the Devourer in a sing-song voice, and then to her horror, it suddenly turned away from the window, heading back for the lounge. Clearly, it’d gotten bored. “No, no, no!” she shouted, rapping on the window to try and get it to come back. “Look over here! Look over here! No! Come here! Come here! Come here! Crap!”

Realizing that it was going to back to the lounge, she ran back along the balcony, hoping to warn her friends before it was too late.

*****

“Oh crap, it’s going back to the lounge!” Alex yelped, recognizing the hallway that the Devourer was walking through.

“This is bad,” Ernie agreed, “this is _very_ bad.”

They knew that all they could do was watch, but they were hopeful that their friends would figure out how not to be caught by the Devourer.

*****

Unaware that the Devourer was heading their way, Joey, Dawn, and Tyler were busy finishing setting up what they needed in order to complete the ritual, and Tyler had taken off his coat since it’d gotten stained by the demon’s blood earlier. Plus, he didn’t really want to wear it anymore after everything they’d gone through.

“Let’s put these shot glasses around now,” Joey said, grabbing a tray of empty shot glasses and brought it over so that they could put them in their proper places. “Ok, three back here.”

They were putting the last glass in its’ proper spot when the Devourer suddenly burst into the room. Having been spotted, the trio fled around the room with the creature giving chase, not even bothering to hide this time, and they just barely managed to make it outside.

“Where did he come from!?” Joey shrieked and they were soon joined by Andrea. “I thought you were distracting him!”

“I did,” Andrea replied. “I had him for _so_ long. He just gets bored.”

“Sadly that makes sense,” said Dawn. “Anyway, we managed to find the demon’s blood, but you still need to drink some of it, since we already did, and all participants _must_ drink that disgusting blood.”

“Ok,” Andrea agreed, not looking forward to drinking the blood of a demon, even though she _had_ drunk vampire blood earlier, and now she was going to have to drink blood again. “Then one of you guys need to take over distracting so I can take a sip.”

Tyler immediately pushed Joey and Dawn toward the doorway. “You two can do it!” he insisted before they could object.

“Tyler!”

“Why us?!”

*****

Two minutes later, Joey and Dawn both stepped into the foyer, reluctantly since this was a _really_ bad idea, and they started shouting to get the attention of the Devourer. “Come this way!” And when it started after them, they both screamed and ran up the stairs with the Devourer close behind them. “Omigod! Oh, jeez, he's followingus!”

*****

Going back into the lounge, Andrea and Tyler finished the set up, and he handed her the bottle that the demon’s blood was in. “Here’s the demon’s blood. Have a drink.”

Andrea wasn’t looking forward to this, but she did take the bottle and took a swing from it. “Ugh,” she groaned, positive that it tasted worst then the vampire blood, and set the bottle down. _‘First vampire blood, and now the blood of a demon. I’m certain that I’ve drunk enough blood to supply a human by this point.’_

“What’s next?” Tyler asked.

Andrea checked the diagram. “We must stand inside the triangle and recite these words,” she informed him. “That means we need all four of us to do that.”

Tyler nodded and called out to their busy friends. “Joey! Dawn! We need you both! Lock the Devourer someplace and get over here!”

*****

Hearing the shout, Joey and Dawn fled back downstairs, having been doing their own version of one of the many chase scenes from _Scooby-doo,_ and they headed for the library, figuring that they could trap the Devourer in there since the other entrance was locked.

*****

Unfortunately, the Devourer was a lot faster then either of them were counting on, and no sooner were they in the library, then it had them cornered behind a chair. They were _certain_ that it would do to them whatever it had done to Alex and Ernie earlier.

“Tyler!” Joey shouted, cringing as the Devourer exposed them to its’ monster’s breath. “Open the door!”

When the Devourer tried to reach for them, Dawn shoved Joey toward the desk to hide, and they both screamed when it jumped onto the desk. However, this _did_ give them an opening, and they both managed to dodge its’ clawed hands.

They bolted out of the library and slammed the doors shut, locking the Devourer in, and they backed away as it banged on the doors, trying to get out, and roaring furiously.

*****

“Yes!” Alex and Ernie both cheered, and so what if they were stuck inside the Devourer’s head forever? At least their friends were going to survive, and they would probably use the Sorceress as a punching bag once they had the remaining gems and the crown.

*****

Joey and Dawn ran back into the lounge, joining Tyler and Andrea on the floor around the triangle. “Ok, ready?”

Andrea nodded. “Hold hands.”

Joey took Dawn’s right hand and Andrea’s left hand while Dawn helped Tyler hold the book open so that they could read the incantation together while he held Andrea’s right hand.

“‘From the mouth of the abyss’,” they recited together, “‘we summon the Crystal of the Forsaken and the Lost, the Stone of the Damned. Release this secret to the world of the living’.” And from the library, they could hear the Devourer roar, almost as if the ritual was hurting it somehow.

A box on one of the tables opened, and they hurried to it. Inside was a square crystal box that Joey took out. “What is this?”

“Is it the phone number?” Andrea inquired.

Joey squinted at the engraved writing. “Sanctum regnum.”

“Well, that’s Latin, but it doesn’t sound like a phone number,” Dawn said, frowning a little.

“Still, that might be the phone number we need to call,” Tyler suggested. “Let’s go.” And they hurried back outside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm, will those words help with the phone? You'll have to wait until next week to find out.
> 
> Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	7. CHAPTER SIX:  CALLING HELL TAKE TWO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> I'm back with another chapter and this time I'm not as late as last week. This whole COVID-19 business has been leaving me stressed out since it's been affecting my jobs, which I'm down to one for the time being.
> 
> Anyway, enough about real life, time to see how the survivors are doing. Onward!

**CHAPTER SIX: CALLING HELL TAKE TWO**

*****

Tyler, Joey, Dawn, and Andrea were heading back to the telephone booth when there was a flash of purple light, which startled them, and they all cheered when Alex and Ernie both suddenly reappeared as the light faded.

“Alex!”

“Ernie!”

Both Alex and Ernie were surprised that they weren’t stuck int the head of the Devourer anymore. “Uh, how did we end up out here?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Dawn said, relieved to have them back. “You’re both back and that’s all that matters.”

Joey showed them the crystal cube. “We got this from the séance.”

“Well, let’s go make that phone call,” Ernie suggested and they ran for the telephone booth.

*****

Reaching the telephone booth and ignoring the banging and roaring that was coming from the library, Tyler stepped inside and picked up the receiver, once again hearing the female voice requesting for the telephone billet number.

“Sanctum regnum?” Tyler asked, but the voice keeping making the same request, no matter how many times he said the latin phrase. “Sanctum regnum? Sanctum regnum?”

“Ok, that’s not it,” Joey said with a disappointed sigh. “It _has_ to be something else.”

Also disappointed, Tyler hung up the receiver and he checked the booth, wondering if they’d missed something the first time, and he found a box. “Check that box.”

Andrea found a latch and flipped it, opening the box, and a piece of paper fell out.

Tyler snatched it up and found the words _‘file in desk’_ stamped across it in red ink. “Oh no.”

“‘File in desk…’” both Alex and Ernie groaned, realizing where they needed to go. “Is it in the room the demon's locked in?"

Andrea nodded. "It's in the desk."

"No!” Joey moaned.

“Great, it just _had_ to be in the very room that we trapped the freakin’ Devourer in!” Dawn complained, throwing her hands in the air in frustration for the second time that night.

Ernie sighed. “Back to the library.”

*****

Going back up the stairs, they could see the Devourer glaring at them through the window, banging on the glass, and growling so that they could see its’ sharp teeth.

“We need someone to lure it out of the library,” Joey said, looking at the group.

Dawn raised her hand. “I’ll do it,” she offered, earning surprised looks. “Alex and Ernie just barely got back from wherever it was they ended up, and there’s a room connected to the library with a door to the balcony that I can escape through just as long as you guys can lock the door to the room itself. I won’t get caught, I promise.”

“Ok,” said Alex, partly relieved that he and Ernie weren’t going to be the bait this time, “I’ll be waiting outside to grab you just incase it looks like he’s gonna capture you, ok?”

Dawn nodded and headed to the outside door of the library while Andrea went to one of the windows, getting the attention of the Devourer. Once she was certain that the others were in position, she unlocked the door and stepped inside, noting the door that she needed to lure the creature to. “Hey!” she called out and it turned toward her. “You can’t catch me!”

Dawn ran out the door to the other room with the Devourer in hot pursuit.

*****

In the other room, the Devourer chased the brunette around while the door to the room was slammed shut by one of her friends, and then she bolted out the door to the balcony. Once she was out, Alex slammed the door shut and locked it, trapping the creature inside the room.

“All right!” they both cheered, sharing a high-five, and they ran back to the library, where Joey and Tyler locked both doors to ensure that the Devourer wouldn’t be able to come after them if it _did_ manage to get out of the room.

“The desk,” Andrea said, pointing to the desk. “Look in the desk for a file.”

They started checking the desk and in nearly every drawer that wasn’t locked, they were finding all kinds of files, and there was _a lot_ of them.

“Omigosh, are you _kidding_ me?” Joey groaned, finding even more files under the ones he’d already pulled out.

“Who needs all these files?” Dawn wondered. “Even the people who make movies and TV shows don’t have this many files! At least not the paper kind.”

Just then, the Devourer began banging on the library door, scaring them, but the lock was holding, so that meant that they still had some time, and they kept searching for the right file.

Alex opened a drawer, yanked out more papers, and he found a key on a red ribbon. “A key,” he said, holding it up. “A key.”

Andrea took the key and started unlocking the drawers that were locked. Pulling the drawers open, they found even _more_ files, earning groans from the group. Joey took the key to open a small door on the side of the desk while his friends searched the papers in the drawers. Opening the small door, he reached inside and found a single piece of paper. “Wait! I found something!”

“What did you find?” Tyler asked.

Joey unfolded the paper and they all beamed when they saw written on it was the telephone billet number. “I have it! Let’s go!” And they ran out of the library, eager to get this madness over with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good news, they have the phone number. Bad news, Tyler is going to call Hell. I will see you all next week to see what will happen next on the same ETN time and the same ETN channel. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	8. CHAPTER SEVEN: CALLING HELL TAKE THREE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> These are crazy times for all of us, and I hope this chapter will take your minds off of all of that. Onward!

**CHAPTER SEVEN: CALLING HELL TAKE THREE**

*****

Tyler entered the telephone booth for the third time, this time he had the paper that Joey had found, and he picked up the receiver.

_`“_ _Telephone billet number, please_ _,”`_ the female voice requested.

Taking a deep breath, Tyler read off the numbers. “Eight, three, five, two, one, nine?”

_`“Connecting you now.”`_

Hearing this, the group sighed with relief since they were _finally_ making some progress, not that they were looking forward to hearing a voice from hell talking to them, and if it meant finding the gem, then it would be worth it…hopefully.

“We did it,” Joey said. “Ok.”

Tyler wasn’t looking forward to the phone call he was about to make. “I’m about to call _hell,_ ” he moaned, wishing that someone else was making the phone call.

“You’re doing fine, Tyler,” Ernie assured him.

_`“_ _What do you seek_ _?”`_ a creepy deep male voice asked with a sneer, making them all jump.

Not sure at first, Joey flipped through the book and found what they needed. “‘To recover the first one, you must make…’ oh! We need, um, the idol!"

"We need the idol…" Tyler stammered into the phone.

Dawn checked the book. "We need the twin idol of the Cursed God,” she added.

“That's the twin idol of the Cursed God, please,” Tyler requested, his heart was racing and his voice was squeaking with fear a little.

“Does he know where it is?” Alex wondered, referring to whatever it was that Tyler was talking to.

When the creepy male voice spoke, it was amused by the request. _`“_ _Such a prize cannot be given freely_ _.”`_

“Yes,” Tyler agreed, hoping that he wasn’t going to sell his own soul and have a hellhound come after him ten years later like on _Supernatural_.

_`“_ _What are the words you will give in exchange_ _?”`_ the creepy male voice inquired.

Tyler took the crystal cube from Andrea and held it up to the light so that he could read the words on it. “Oh, I'll give you…sanctum regnum,” he replied and shrugged at his friends.

Suddenly, the creepy male voice began laughing maliciously, making them all jump once again, and Tyler nearly dropped the receiver. To Joey and Dawn, it sound _way_ too much like the evil laugher they’d heard last year when the ritual to bind the evil in the 1920s house failed the first time around, of course it hadn’t been the right ritual in the first place as they later found out, having been tricked and used by Arthur.

“Oh no,” Alex said uneasily.

“That doesn’t sound good,” Ernie agreed.

“What does that mean?” Andrea wondered.

The creepy male voice stopped laughing and spoke again, sending chills down the spines of the group. _`“_ _Mortal, what you have spoken will haunt you forever,"_ _`_ it warned, cackling. _`_ _"The Dark Dimension drives all who enter mad_ _.”`_ The nearby box suddenly popped open, scaring the group while the creepy male voice laughed once again.

Tyler quickly hanged up the receiver, cutting off the laughter, and he was wondering whether he’d really screwed himself over by saying those words. “Did I just doomed my soul?” he wondered fearfully.

The others weren’t sure and they decided to focus on the box instead. They gathered around the box and Joey reached inside.

“There's something…" he muttered, grabbing a smooth stone object and he lifted it out of the box. "What the heck?” He stared at the strange-looking squid-shaped idol.

Dawn glanced at the box and found a note, which she pulled out and read. “‘My twin lies in watery darkness’.”

“The pool,” said Alex. “The other one's in the pool. We need two."

"Let's go look,” Tyler suggested and they headed for the pool, which none of them had been near since the death of DeStorm hours ago.

*****

When the group reached the pool, they did their best to ignore the body of their dead friend, who was now at the bottom of the pool, along with what looked like a black chest at the deep end of the pool.

“I see a rope,” said Andrea, who pointed to a rope that was resting on the small barrier that separated the hot tub area from the rest of the pool, and the other end of the rope was in the water, connected to the chest.

“The other idol must be in that chest,” Tyler guessed.

“Ok,” Joey said, handing the idol he was carrying to Ernie, and both he and Dawn moved along the barrier to reach the rope. “Here.”

“Do you both need help?” Andrea asked as they grabbed the rope.

“Joey, Dawn, be careful,” Tyler advised.

Both Dawn and Joey pulled on the rope, moving the chest toward them and then out of the water, but it wasn’t easy. “Omigosh, it’s heavy.” It took a lot of effort and Alex was about to offer to help when they managed to get the chest out of the water, which they then carried to the other side of the pool while their friends hurried across the barrier to join them.

“It must be full of water,” Andrea guessed as they removed the rope from the chest, finding that there was a traditional lock on it, three tiny combination locks, and a note.

“There’s a note,” Joey said and he read it. “‘To uncage the second twin, one must reach into the mouth of a demon and tear out its tongue’.”

Dawn made a disgusted face. “First it’s demon’s blood, and now the tongue of a freakin’ demon?”

Alex pointed to a nearby stone lion statue that decorated the pool. “Is this a demon?”

Joey shrugged. “I mean, it _might_ be.”

Straightening up, Andrea walked across the barrier toward it. “Is there a tongue?” she wondered, reaching it and reached inside while her friends warned her to be careful. “There’s nothing,” she reported, unable to remove the stone tongue, and went back to her friends.

“Well, that’s a bust,” Ernie remarked.

“Maybe it's the demon that we left in the house?” Tyler suggested.

Both Joey and Dawn winced at the thought of trying to yank anything out of the Devourer. “Uh, I don't think we can go close to him without him ripping _our_ tongues out, okay?”

“Absolutely _not_.”

“We have one idol,” Alex reminded them, still holding the idol on one shoulder, given how heavy it was. “We need one more to get to the Dark Dimension.”

Ernie sighed. “Which means we’re gonna need to open this box.”

“Ok,” Joey sighed, hoping that the tongue wasn’t in the Devourer. “But we need to find the demon's… _tongue_ …or whatever…”

Tyler examined the idol and found something that he hadn’t noticed earlier. “Wait! There are symbols here!” And sure enough, there were three symbols on the base of the idol. “Do you think they're the same symbols that are on _this?_ ” he wondered, positioning the chest so that they could see the combination locks.

Dawn looked between the symbols on the idol and the combination locks. “They’re definitely the same symbols.”

“There are three symbols,” Alex said as Joey helped him with the idol so that he could read off the symbols while Tyler and Dawn worked on the locks. “So this one…a star…” And they put in the right symbol, opening the first lock. “And then that one…a squiggle.” They solved the second lock. “And lines.”

Tyler and Dawn opened the third lock, and they all jumped with startled yelps when a huge green light appeared out of nowhere, just ahead of them.

“Freaking jump-scares,” Dawn muttered, feeling creeped out by the green light.

“Should we go towards it?” Andrea wondered. “Or is something gonna come out of it?”

When nothing came out of the light, they realized that they were going to have to go into the green light to find the demon that they needed to get the tongue from, and they _really_ weren’t looking forward to having to get a tongue out of a demon of all things. Exchanging uneasy looks, they headed for the green light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What will they found inside the green light? You'll just have to wait until next week to find out.
> 
> Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	9. CHAPTER EIGHT: DEMON GROSSNESS!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> I hope you're all coping with the whole physical distancing business going on because of COVID-19, and yes, I did say physical distancing instead of social distancing. If you keep the proper physical distance, you can still socialize, duh!
> 
> Anyway, enough about real life, time to see what the survivors are going to face next. Onward!

**CHAPTER EIGHT: DEMON GROSSNESS!**

*****

They entered the area that the green light was lighting up, going down a flight of stairs, and Joey yelped when he saw something icky-looking lying flat on the ground under a tree just below them. “What is _that?!_ ”

Embedded in the ground was a disgusting-looking greenish/yellowish face that was _huge_ , and its’ slobbery mouth was wide open, clearly waiting for someone to make the mistake of reaching into it so that it could chomp shut.

“Okay, this is _definitely_ a demon face," Joey whimpered when they reached the bottom of the stairs and drew closer to the creepy face, "and that looks _real_ slimy.”

“I think I’m going to be sick,” Dawn groaned, trying to look anywhere _but_ at the demon, but there wasn’t anything else to look at unfortunately.

“Same here,” Andrea agreed.

“So, who wants to go first?” Ernie wondered while Alex put the idol down on the ground near the tree.

Although she _really_ didn’t want to, Andrea decided to go first. “I’ll do it,” she said finally, crouching down in front of the mouth and mentally prepared herself before she reached inside and shrieked a little at the sliminess and the sheer grossness of it all. “Ew!” she shrieked, feeling around inside. “Ew! Ew! Oh, whatever this is is _so_ gross.” Feeling something unexpected, she yanked her hand out and startled her friends.

“Did something grab you?” Tyler asked fearfully.

Andrea laughed and shook her head. “No.” She then sighed. “I couldn’t find the tongue.”

Tyler decided to go next since it was clear no one was going to lose their arm to the disgusting demon face. Rolling up one of his sleeves, he got down and stuck his arm in as far as he could, regretting it instantly, but he did feel around, and yet he couldn’t find the blasted tongue. “Nothing,” he grumbled, pulling his arm out and making a face at the goo covering it. “Ew!”

Dawn removed her coat, plus the red ribbon from around her neck, and got down flat on her stomach so that she could put her arm in up to the shoulder, and was fighting back the impulse to gag. “Oh lordy,” she moaned. “This is _disgusting!_ ” She felt around for as long as she could stand it, and after a few minutes, she too gave up and quickly withdrew her arm. “Oh gross! Oh gross! On gross!” She quickly got up and backed away from the demon face.

Joey took off his own coat, rolled up his sleeve, and he reached into the mouth since he had the longest arms, and he felt around, hating the feel of the slimy goo, and yet, he couldn’t find the tongue, which they figured had to be big, given the size of the head.

Ernie took his turn next, and felt around, going as deep as he possibly could, but even he came up empty. “This is getting ridiculously. Where is that tongue?”

Finally, Alex took his turn. He reached in as deep as he could, feeling around in areas that he was certain that his friends hadn’t checked, and then he finally managed to grab _something_. “Oh, this is something,” he said, pulling his arm out of the mouth, and saw that he was holding a tiny package. “It’s wrapped up.”

“At least it wasn’t an actual tongue,” Andrea remarked while Alex opened the package, and inside was a key.

*****

The group returned to the chest, where Andrea took the key and glanced at her friends as she inserted it into the lock. “Be ready for whatever happens,” she warned as she unlocked the chest.

“Ready,” said Alex and she opened the box, revealing that the second idol was inside, and he lifted it out, making a face since it was wet due to the water that’d gotten into the chest while it’d been in the pool. “It’s a bit slippery, but I got it.”

Joey, who was holding the first idol, nodded. “Is there a clue in there?” he asked, figuring that there would be, and he was dreading of what would be written on it.

Andrea checked and there was a damp piece of paper, which she handed to Tyler, who read it.

“‘Three must be selected by the vote of the group to enter the Dark Dimension’,” he read. “‘Those chosen must claim a partner to help them’.”

Both Joey and Dawn felt their hearts drop like rocks, memories of Lele and Benny in the electric chairs flashing through their minds. “Not again…”

Before their friends could ask what was wrong, they heard someone shout out to them. “Hey!”

The group looked around and saw a familiar blonde girl on the other side of the pool, waving to them with a broad smile and a jetpack on her back. “Jetpack Girl!”

“Follow me,” Jetpack Girl requested, gesturing to the group as they hurried around the pool, and they all headed toward the mansion together.

With Alison gone, they needed someone to help with the upcoming vote, but just seeing a familiar friendly face was worth being reunited with Jetpack Girl. Although Joey and Dawn were dreading the upcoming vote, which was probably going to be the final vote of the night, the odds of their survival were slightly improved, but not by much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, I'd probably being throwing up if I had to stick my hand in something like that. Gross!
> 
> I will see you all next week with the next update. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	10. CHAPTER NINE: THE FINAL VOTE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> Yup, I'm back with another update and it's time for the final vote of the night. Onward!

**CHAPTER NINE: THE FINAL VOTE**

*****

Jetpack Girl lead them inside while making sure that the coast was clear, especially since they didn’t know if the Devourer was still locked in the room or not. “You saw that Devourer thing, right?” she asked as they crossed the foyer to the lounge.

Joey nodded. “Yeah.”

“I'm pretty sure it's scared of those idol things,” Jetpack Girl informed them, nodding to the Twin Idols that Joey andAlex were carrying, “so, like, keep them with you."

"Good to know,” Tyler remarked.

*****

When they entered the lounge, the group saw that the stuff that they used for the séance was long gone, but this wasn’t too surprising anymore for them, and Andrea gestured to a nearby table that wasn’t far from the doors.

“Should we just keep them on the table?”

“Yeah,” Joey agreed. “Keep them around us.” He and Alex placed the idols side-by-side on the table before sitting across from each other on the couches with Andrea, Dawn, who put her and Joey’s coats, she’d stuffed the ribbon into a pocket of her coat, on one of the chairs, Ernie, and Tyler sitting by each of them.

Jetpack Girl was now by the bar, where the cards were waiting for the vote to occur. “What’s your note say?” she asked.

Joey opened the note and read it. “It says three must be sel-” He was interrupted by the growls of the Devourer, and they jumped to their feet when they saw the creature heading for the doors.

“Hey!” Joey and Alex both snatched up the idols and they faced their foe, holding the idols out like shields. “Stay back,” he warned, and the Devourer stopped in the doorway at the sight of the idols. “Look what we have. You know the twin idols? Yep! Mmm-hmm!”

The Devourer began backing away, growling in a way that meant that it didn’t like the idols, and both Joey and Alex advanced toward it. Once the creature was away from the doorway, Joey charged forward with the idol, and the Devourer fled from it.

Alex snickered and when Joey returned after having his fun, he set his idol down in the doorway to make sure that the Devourer didn’t come back. “Keep one with us,” he advised. “Just incase another one comes. One is good.”

Seeing that as a good idea, Joey put the idol he was holding back on the table, and they went back to sit with their friends.

“It's time for y'all to conduct your vote,” Jetpack Girl reminded them, having set up the cards on the bar.

“I am _sick_ of voting,” Dawn moaned, having been dreading what was most likely going to be their final vote that night, and the fact that three would be going into the final death challenge, it was starting to feel like a repeat from last year.

Andrea looked at her friends and she had a feeling that this was probably going to be the last time that they would be together like this after the challenge was over. “Do we wanna talk?” she suggested.

“Yeah,” Joey agreed while rubbing Dawn’s back to help her stay calm and focus, not that it was doing much good, but he had to try. “Let’s talk.”

“I’m guessing that you both went through this final vote last year?” Ernie asked Joey and Dawn, and they both nodded with unhappy expressions. “Thought as much.”

Alex was guessing that it hadn’t ended well with how Joey and Dawn were handling the news. “So how is this whole selecting process gonna work?" he asked, dreading the answer.

"We're voting for whose life should be on the line," Tyler explained. "Jetpack Girl is going to reveal three people. They each will have a partner, and that partner is gonna try to help them win, to escape and be safe.”

Joey knew only of one way to do the vote, and while it hadn’t worked out too well for Lele and Benny last year, it was the only option that the six of them had left, especially since all of their lives were on the line this time, and he knew Dawn wouldn’t like his suggestion, but it had to be made. “I have an idea,” he said, trying his best to sound calm. “How about we each put our own names in?”

Dawn stared at him and then nodded with a sigh. “Might as well.”

“I think that’s fair,” Tyler agreed. “We'll leave it up to fate, because it's not just us playing. It's _all_ of us trying to save each other at this point.”

“I’m in,” Andrea agreed, seeing no other way around the vote. “Show your cards. Promise?”

“Promise,” they said together.

Alex was the first to go to the bar, where he picked up his card, showing it to the others, and then handed it to JetPack Girl. Tyler went next, showing off the card before handing it over. Ernie went third, revealing his card, and then it was Joey’s turn. His heart was pounding in his chest as he picked up the card that had his image on it, and he showed it to his friends before handing it to Jetpack Girl.

Once Joey returned to his seat on the couch, Dawn got up and went to the bar. Drying her palms on her skirt, she picked up her card, showed it to the others, and then handed it to Jetpack Girl, who gave her a reassuring smile, but it wasn’t doing her nerves any good. _‘I hadn’t been voted in yet,’_ she thought, _‘and that other time Joey, Andrea, and I were volunteered, which isn’t the same.’_

Once Dawn was sitting next to Joey, Andrea stood up and went to the bar. Smirking, she made a show of revealing her card to her friends before handing it to Jetpack Girl, and she went back to sit next to Dawn. “You didn’t trust me, Tyler?” she teased, and he grinned in return, getting nervous chuckles from the others.

They all watched as Jetpack Girl shuffled the six cards several times before removing the first card and revealed it to them.

“Alex.”

Alex groaned and hung his head, and the others weren’t thrilled either since this was going to be his _third_ and _final_ challenge.

Jetpack Girl shuffled the cards again and drew the second card, showing it the group. “Ernie.”

“Joy,” Ernie grumbled, rubbing his forehead.

As Jetpack Girl shuffled the cards a third time, Andrea, Tyler, Dawn, and Joey were all bracing themselves since it was down to the four of them, and only one of them was going to be the third chosen to possibly die in the final death challenge. “And…” she said while choosing the third card and held it up for them to see. “Andrea.”

Andrea shut her eyes and sighed. “I knew it. I knew it. I knew it.”

Joey sighed, knowing what was going to happen next. “Ok, you have to choose partner.”

Alex wasn’t looking forward to the final death challenge, and he had to decide who would be his partner between Tyler, Joey, and Dawn. _‘This isn’t going to be easy,’_ he thought, looking between his three friends before finally making his choice. “Well, together we defeated Dorian,” he said, looking at Joey, “so I’m gonna go with Joey.”

Joey nodded. “Ok.” And yet he was freaking out on the inside since he was now in the same boat like last year with Lele. _‘This time I_ need _to keep Alex alive. I_ need _to.’_

“Well, with only two options before,” said Ernie, looking between Tyler and Dawn, “I’ll take Donny.”

Dawn swallowed and nodded. “Ok,” she squeaked and Joey patted her shoulder, but it wasn’t doing much good to help her stay calm since she was a bundle of nerves.

Andrea looked at Tyler. “It’s me and you,” she remarked with a forced smile. “We got it.”

“I’ll protect you as much as I can,” Tyler promised.

“Same,” Joey and Dawn said to Alex and Ernie.

“Time to go,” said Jetpack Girl.

Exchanging uneasy looks, they got up with Alex and Andrea retrieving the Twin Idols, and they followed Jetpack Girl out of the lounge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I'm probably going to get some heat because of Ernie going into this final death challenge, but that's how it went. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	11. CHAPTER TEN: DARK DIMENSION

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> The final vote has been cast, and it's now time to travel to the Dark Dimension and locate the last gem. Who will come out alive and who will die? Time to find out. Onward!

**CHAPTER TEN: DARK DIMENSION**

*****

The survivors followed Jetpack Girl down a flight of stairs, where they were confronted by a giant swirling purple portal, and they figured that this was where the Devourer had came through. Of course, that meant, that they would have to go through it in order to gain access to the Dark Dimension.

On a pillar in front of the portal was a black book, which looked like it had a _mouth_ embedded in its’ cover.

“Ew,” Andrea groaned. “Look at this.”

“Ugh,” said Dawn, making a face. “First a book with eyeballs, and now a book with a mouth? Ick!”

“Read it,” Alex requested, figuring that the instructions were probably in the book.

Andrea nodded and opened the book, finding the instructions on the first page. “‘This is a one-way entrance to the Dark Dimension. The first team to recover the gem will be protected from its Guardian. The losing guests, but not their partners, will be sacrificed so the others might return’.”

Dawn groaned. “I was afraid of that.”

_‘So, two of us will die,’_ Andrea thought as she resumed reading. “‘The gem of power is hidden in the most unlikely place. Leave no corpse unturned or pool of filth untouched. I have a secret on the last page to give you upon your return’.”

“Ok,” Joey said, swallowing since his throat had gone dry. “So we know what we're doing, right? We're just searching for the gem. First one to find it comes out alive.”

Nodding, Alex and Andrea placed the idols in their proper niches on either side of the portal, stepping back as there was a swooshing sound, and the portal opened to reveal two men with white skulls painted on their faces and broad shoulders. They glared at the group, which realized that these were the Guardians of the Dark Dimension.

“Hello?” Joey squeaked.

The Guardians stood in the opening for several seconds, and then they moved aside to let the group into the portal. Terrified, they entered one at time, and the portal sealed shut behind them.

*****

The moment that the portal closed, the group began searching for the gem, which wasn’t easy since the barely lit purple place was littered with all kind of junk, including corpses, broken furniture, and other unrecognizable things.

Basically, they all went crazy with their searching, tearing apart stuff, smashing stuff, and they all were _determined_ to find the gem.

*****

Several minutes passed with none of them finding the gem, but they all were still searching while keenly aware that the two Guardians were standing where the portal had been.

They were waiting to see which two would fail to find the gem in time, and both Joey and Dawn were determined to make sure that neither Alex nor Ernie would be the ones to die.

*****

More time had passed, and still the survivors hadn’t found the gem.

Tyler and Andrea were actually digging through the corpses to see if the gem was inside one of them, Joey and Alex were smashing candles and pieces of furniture, and Dawn and Ernie were searching the pools, trying not to gag on the stench coming from them.

*****

Fifteen minutes had passed when Andrea pushed aside a broken skull, she found the gem. “I found it!” she screamed, snatching it up and she started jumping up and down with excitement. “Omigod, I found it! I found it!” And she was soon hugging Tyler. She was going to live and get them out of the Dark Dimension.

Joey and Dawn, however, knew that this meant that Alex and Ernie were going to be killed, and they turned to their partners, who had come to the same conclusion and had resigned expressions on their faces. “Alex…Ernie…”

Hearing the pain in their voices, both Andrea and Tyler stopped hugging, realizing that two of their friends were going to die. “Oh God.”

Both Guardians started forward, their eyes fixed on their targets, and when both Joey and Dawn moved to stop them, refusing to have two more friends die because of their failure, Ernie moved and stopped them both.

“Don’t,” he said firmly, cutting off any protests that they could make. “Just _don’t_. This _has_ to happen, and you both _need_ to get out of here and stop the Sorceress once and for all. That goes for you two as well,” he added, looking at Andrea and Tyler. “When the portal opens, _get out_ and _win_.”

Ernie returned to Alex’s side and, after smiling farewell to their friends, they turned and faced the advancing Guardians, having decided that if they were to die, they weren’t going to scream or cry, they were going to meet their fates head-on. _‘Lauren, Jesse, DeStorm, Liza, Artie, Tana, Gabbie, and Alison. We’ll be seeing you all soon.’_

Knowing that they couldn’t do anything to stop what was about to happen, Joey took Dawn into his arms, pressing her face into his shoulder to shield her from what was about to happen. The Guardians grabbed Alex and Ernie by their shoulders and hauled them toward the back of the room, shoving them both to the ground so that they landed on their backs _hard_.

Although winded, neither Alex nor Ernie made a sound, keeping their eyes fixed on the Guardians as they both drew their daggers, and then the daggers were plunged into their chests, making them both gasp in pain before they went limp.

“Omigod,” Joey moaned while Dawn shook in his arms, her tears staining his shirt.

Just then, the portal reopened, and the four survivors fled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No coming after me! I had to do it! It hurt my heart to do it! Bye for now! R&R everyone!


	12. CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE MISSING GEM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, world and welcome back to Escape the Night!
> 
> It's the final chapter of this episode, and things are looking rough for the survivors. Onward!

**CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE MISSING GEM**

*****

The quartet found themselves in the mansion once again, only to see that Jetpack Girl had gone while they were in the Dark Dimension, and the portal closed behind them, taking away any chance of retrieving the bodies of Alex and Ernie.

Andrea spotted the book and grabbed it, recalling that they needed it. “We need this.”

“Yeah, we need that,” Joey agreed while supporting Dawn, who had tears running down her cheeks for failing to save Ernie and Alex, as they ran back up the stairs.

*****

The four survivors returned to the lounge and went straight to the table that the gem map was sitting on.

“Ok,” Dawn said, wiping away the tears that were still on her cheeks. “Let’s get the gems in.”

Joey took out the gem they’d gotten from the werewolves and put it into the map while Andrea did the same with the gem from the Dark Dimension, and the gem map glowed briefly with each color for a moment.

“We’re still missing one,” Tyler said, pointing to the empty slot on the gem map.

“That’s where the gem was suppose to go when we defeated the Ice Queen,” Dawn realized. “Only we never got the gem.”

Joey recalled that and then he remembered something else. “Wait, it said something about a secret at the back of the book.”

Tyler picked up the book and flipped to the back, finding a note on the last page, and he read it. “‘Sometimes, wizards lie to get what they want and hide things in plain sight’.”

“Let me see,” Joey requested and Tyler handed him the book. He read the note and sighed, figuring it out. “No, remember?” he asked and they nodded. “Okay. Think back to the Ice Witch. That's where we didn't get the gem. The wizard…”

“Was that Sireen?” Andrea asked.

Dawn nodded. “Yeah, she was doing magic when we first met her.”

“ _She’s_ a wizard,” said Tyler, thinking. “Maybe she hid it in plan sight?”

The quartet immediately looked at the mantle, where they had placed the compass next to Ernie’s sword. Andrea immediately went to it, grabbing it, and brought it back over.

“Hold on,” Joey said, taking the compass and he squinted at it. “Is that the gem?”

“Can you tear it out?” Tyler asked.

Joey and Dawn both tried to get it open, surprised when they found that they could open the bottom, revealing a pale blue gem. “Are you freakin’ _kidding_ me?”

“We had it the _whole time_?” Andrea asked, dumbfounded.

“We killed Tana for _nothing_ ,” Dawn growled, taking the gem out. “We had this stupid thing the _whole time_.”

“Put it in,” Tyler insisted, wanting to get out of there, beat the hell out of the Sorceress, and go home. “Put it in.”

Dawn nodded and took a deep breath. “Ok, guys,” she said as they gathered around the gem map for what they hoped was the last time. “This is it. This is the last gem.”

“This is our ticket out,” Andrea agreed.

“Go for it, Donny,” Joey said, hoping that with this, they would _finally_ be able to go home and start to heal…hopefully.

Nodding, Dawn inserted the pale blue gem into the last slot on the gem map, which glowed first blue and then purple, startling them, and then it split in the middle, opening partway. “Whoa!”

Opening the compartment, their jaws dropped in amazement as they found themselves staring at a spiky gold crown. It was the Crown of Oblivion and it had been hiding inside the gem map the entire time!

Joey carefully took the crown out of the map and they all stared at it, realizing that they had what they needed to defeat the Sorceress, break her spell, and _finally_ return to 2017.

*****

Unknown to them, the Sorceress had seen everything, and she was pleased that they had uncovered the crown, plus the nine gems.

_‘Little do they know,’_ she thought smugly, preparing to start the final part of her plan, _‘they aren’t going to keep that crown for very long. The final phase of my plan is about to_ begin _. And I will_ finally _finish what I had started over a century ago, and this time, the Society Against Evil_ won’t _be able to stop me!’_

To Be Continued…

*****

_I have so many, so many regrets._

_So many lies, so many broken ties._

_I wish for my old life._

_Wish I could fix my strike._

_Cause no one truly escapes the night._

_Oh, won't you help me escape the night._

_Oh baby help me escape the night._

_Escape the night._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I STILL can't believe that the ice witch gem was inside the compass that whole freakin' time!
> 
> I will see you all next week for the start of the final episode. Bye for now! R&R everyone!

**Author's Note:**

> Yikes! The Sorceress is playing hard ball and upping the levels A LOT!
> 
> I will see you all next week with the first chapter. Bye for now! R&R everyone!


End file.
